A Slow Start But A Wonderful Beginning

This morning  the temperature started out in the twenties, but it's April now, and with the sun shining by this afternoon it was glorious outside.  Enough snow had melted for Ed to put his new lettuce plants out on the wall for a little fresh air and sunshine.  He took his tools and headed down to work on the muddy driveway.

I got the camera and went to take a walk exploring today's  newly uncovered patches.  My spirits really got a lift when I spotted a wooley bear caterpillar. I've seen one or two very frozen looking ones before this spring, but this caterpillar was alive and moving.  I gently picked him up and he curled up into a ball in my hand.  It might have been awake for a very short time.  Perhaps I should have let him be, but I couldn't resist.  After all these years, I'm still just a big kid. The other great thing in this picture is the green grass.  Once uncovered and  heated by the sun the brown thatch is giving way to new growth.  At last there is something green for the deer to eat besides my garden plants.

As I walked by the stone patio, I picked up this uprooted, dried out and dead thyme plant.  Apparently the deer don't eat the roots, they spit them out and leave them for me.  Once I had future compost in my hand it was inevitable that I headed to the basement to get my  trug and garden cart.  The rattle of its wheels was music to my ears and I only had to cross a short patch of snow to get to where I could work on the bed in front of the house.  Mostly I cut back dead seed heads and stalks of  New England asters, Black-eyed Susans and Brown-eyed Susans, Rudebeckia triloba. I picked up a lot of black locust seed pods. They are everywhere this year.  It's too soon to do much in  the garden beds when it is still so wet.  I kept my cart on the stones and worked only where I could easily reach.

I wasn't going to pull weeds. It is really too soon.   I don't like it when they break off leaving the root behind, but a pernicious  garlic mustard was too much for me and I gave it a good yank!

What could give a gardener more satisfaction than pulling a hated weed and getting all of that incredibly long tap root?  Oh my, that felt good!  I didn't stay out too long.  One container of weeds to compost was a great beginning.  Like Ed's lettuce I had my time in the garden to enjoy the sunshine and the fresh air.  We don't want any sunburn and I have hope for tomorrow without sore muscles!

Trunk Circles And Spring Tails

Winter has been harsh this year but today the temperature may have hit 50 F.  Smooth slick ice formed everywhere overnight.  By afternoon the lane was clear and a walk about was in order.  Not knowing how I would fare walking in the deep wet snow, a short walk to the gravel bank seemed a good choice.  Here the sun is beginning to expose the horizontal surface of the temporary stone pile.  The depth of the accumulated snow is more than we usually see here.  Small stones of visual interest are gathered together on top of the wall.  Repeated cold cycles and melting snow have polished them clean.

A wide variety of small stones have been dropped here by glacial meltwater.  Fossil bearing sandstone formed nearby is found with limestone that came here from the North.  The striped egg was brought to us all the way from the Adirondack Mountains.  A new crack has opened in the stone in the upper right corner of the photo.  A peek at the interior of that stone is needed.  It would have already happened but the crack was not seen until the picture was examined.

These black specks are the first from of insect life that we encounter here at this time of year.  Spring tails is their name.  It refers to the method of their movement not the impending season.  A snap of their posterior hurls them into the air.  Topography and wind control their destination.  A depression formed by a sleeping deer and a West wind have combined to deposit numerous insects in a small space.  We need to learn something of their life cycle.  Where they came from, what they are eating and why now are unknown to us.  Still it is good to see some signs of life after this brutal winter.

Another puzzle is shown here.  Snow has melted around the base of this tree.  At first glance, it seems that the dark colored tree has absorbed heat from the sunlight causing snow melt.  If that were the only factor, then one would expect a greater open area where the tree faces the sun.  The side of the tree that remains in shadow has melted as much snow as the side in bright sunlight.  There must be another factor at work here.

We have failed to have a wild blueberry harvest for the past three consecutive years.  Late frost or early drought have worked together to take the fruit.  These swollen buds are promise of things to come.  If we do have a harvest this year, it could be a big one.  There is always hope.

Our first seed order arrived here in today's mail.  Finding that package in the mail box just made me feel hopeful.  We need to send out another order soon.  I will be putting lettuce seed to soil in less than three weeks.  Of course the seeds will be in pots in the basement and they will be planted way too early but I will do it despite rational reasons to wait for a more appropriate time.